Bars and restaurants will be closed for 15 days in the Spanish region of Catalonia (northeast) from Thursday evening in order to slow the progression of the Covid-19 epidemic, regional authorities announced on Wednesday.
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The announcement of this drastic measure comes after the partial closure of Madrid and other restrictions taken in the regions of Andalusia, Navarre or Galicia to combat the rise in contaminations in Spain, where the pandemic has killed more than 33,000 people .
Restaurants and bars will no longer be able to serve customers in their establishments and will only be able to deliver to their homes, "
difficult
"
measures
decided in order to "
avoid total containment in the coming weeks
", announced Pere Aragones, interim president of the regional government at a press conference.
These restrictions will come into force on the night of Thursday to Friday and will last at least 15 days, he said, saying he is not unaware that "
this is a difficult measure for the restaurant sector
".
"
We have to limit dinners with friends, weekend outings, meetings with friends or family, who can wait, and will have to wait,
" he said.
Catalonia, one of the first regions to be affected by the second wave of the epidemic in July, had managed to control the spread of contaminations by taking strong measures, before seeing the infections skyrocket for a few days. .
These measures, among the most drastic in Spain, are in addition to the procession of bans affecting restaurants in Europe.
The Netherlands have also ordered bars and restaurants to be closed.
Italy, meanwhile, has banned bars and restaurants from serving non-seated customers after 9 p.m., while Paris has closed its bars but not its restaurants and Liverpool in England its pubs.
